Chapter 1028: I Only Hope You Don't Cause a Greater Disaster

Before the palace gates.

Li Linheng had prepared all his evidence and was about to enter the palace.

Since he could not have it, he would simply destroy it.

His expression was grim. He wanted nothing more than to dispatch troops at once, surround the Tang Manor, and throw every last person into the great prison for slow torture. Even that would not be enough to vent the hatred in his heart.

But just as he reached the palace gates, a sudden, eerie wind blew past.

"Is Lord Li heading into the palace to seek an audience with His Majesty?" a eunuch guarding the gates asked. "The Jinwu Guard has already gone to put out the fire. The city gates are sealed, and the culprits have nowhere to run. His Majesty will surely give you a proper explanation."

Li Linheng let out a breath and was just about to speak.

Suddenly, he froze.

A piercing agony seized his chest.

Cold sweat instantly poured down his face, and the veins on his forehead bulged.

"Gah..."

Li Linheng hunched over, clutching his chest with one hand as the color drained from his face.

Startled, the eunuch hurried forward.

"Lord Li! Lord Li, what's wrong?!"

The eunuch immediately began to shout. "Guards! Someone! Summon the imperial physician, quickly!"

But even as he yelled, Li Linheng collapsed.

Blood flowed from his nose and mouth. He twitched on the ground, unable to utter a single word.

Meanwhile, the evidence hidden inside his robes suddenly caught fire. An eerie flame burned it to ash before anyone even noticed.

When the frantic eunuch shook his shoulders, the ash inside the robes scattered completely, vanishing without a trace.

Early the next morning, the commoners of Shangjing City were surprised to find a heavy guard presence patrolling the streets. Only after asking around did they learn that a massive incident had occurred the previous night.

Culprits had ridden into the city and set fire to the Chancellor's Manor.

Furthermore, the Grand Chancellor, Lord Li, had succumbed to a sudden illness and died right in front of the palace gates. According to the imperial physicians and coroners from the Ministry of Works, Lord Li had died of sudden heart failure before anyone could save him.

"The Chancellor is dead?"

Many found it hard to believe.

Most were simply in a daze.

It felt as though the entire world had changed overnight.

However, there were also those who saw it as a cause for celebration.

"Dead! Good riddance to that traitor! Hahaha! A sycophant like him didn't deserve to live. Hmph, though if you ask me, dying so easily was too good for him. He should have suffered the death of a thousand cuts!"

"Li Linheng monopolized power and threw the Imperial Court into chaos. Such a treacherous villain deserved to die!"

Meanwhile, Li Linheng's faction descended into panic.

With Li Linheng dead, they had lost their greatest pillar of support. How could they not panic? Moreover, his death would naturally spark a vicious power struggle with rival factions. The fall of one man left the entire court in chaos.

Sure enough, that day's morning assembly devolved into an absolute uproar.

Some people, however, were suspicious.

"Did Li Linheng truly die of sudden heart failure?"

"I don't believe it for a second. It must have been the work of those culprits. They probably used some exotic poison."

"But then again, is it really that impossible? What if he was just scared half to death by the culprits and his heart gave out? I've seen plenty of people with bad hearts drop dead right on the spot from a sudden fright. When an attack like that hits, there's usually no saving them."

"I heard the Chancellor's body has already been transferred to the Court of Judicial Review. The coroners are still examining it. The lords over there don't buy the heart failure story, either."

"I heard they even called in an expert."

"An expert?"

"What kind of expert? Could it be..."

"One of those Immortal figures."

"Watch your mouth. Mind what you say."

The moment the topic steered in that direction, the crowd wisely clamped their mouths shut. They either fell silent or quickly shifted the conversation to something else.

In truth, their rumors were entirely correct.

His Majesty had indeed dispatched an expert from within the palace to examine the body.

The examination continued for two days without yielding a single clue. Seeing that the corpse was beginning to rot and stink, they could not draw it out any longer.

Finally, official word was released: after a thorough examination by the coroners of the Court of Judicial Review and the inner palace's Shangguan, it was confirmed that Grand Chancellor Li Linheng had indeed died of sudden heart failure.

When this news broke, everyone was shocked.

Some cursed under their breath, while others rejoiced.

The curses were directed at the sheer inconvenience of Li Linheng's untimely death.

The joy stemmed from the fact that he had finally met his karmic retribution. If the hands of men would not claim him, the heavens surely would.

Meanwhile, inside the Tang Manor.

When Tang Yuerong heard the news, she felt entirely lost.

"How in the world did they pull this off..." Tang Yuerong muttered.

She wasn't the only one curious; Ruyi was just as baffled.

"For a man like that to just inexplicably die..." Ruyi murmured. "And not even the inner palace's Shangguan could figure out the cause?"

Lihua did not care about any of this. The civet cat simply licked its paws, dampening them with saliva before rubbing them over its head. Since cats could not lick the tops of their own heads or cheeks, this was how they usually cleaned themselves, and it worked well enough.

While Lihua was busy scrubbing its head, Ruyi suddenly gave it a playful smack.

"Are you even listening to me, Lihua?"

Lihua touched its head and complained angrily, "I just got my head perfectly clean, and now you've made it dirty again, Ruyi!"

Ruyi chuckled and reached out her hand.

Lihua gave her hand a few licks, then grabbed it and used it to rub its own head.

Only then was Lihua satisfied.

Tang Yuerong asked, "Auntie, who do you think actually did it? Could it have been Mister Chen?"

"I told you to call me Big Sister."

Ruyi said, "As for Uncle Chen..."

She shook her head. "It couldn't be Mister Chen. It has to be someone else. Whoever did this is either connected to the Tang Manor or to Prince Yu."

Tang Yuerong blinked. "You mean it might have been someone working for Prince Yu?"

Ruyi nodded. "Regardless, it was no ordinary person. It was either a powerful demon or a cultivator with incredibly deep Dao Cultivation. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to pull it off without leaving a single trace."

Tang Yuerong nodded numbly. She truly knew very little about such supernatural matters.

...

At the City God Temple in Shangjing City.

The incense at the City God Temple had flourished in recent years, likely because tales of demons and spirits had suddenly become so prevalent in the Mortal World.

Inside the side hall of the temple.

The City God was currently sharing tea with a young woman.

While the City God drank the tea, the woman only inhaled the fragrance. She could not physically drink it. Ever since becoming a Ghost Immortal, she had lost all appetite. Her sense of taste had long since faded, rendering mortal food utterly tasteless to her. Only ethereal offerings like incense were still palatable.

"You should leave the City God Temple soon, Young Lady," the City God said with a soft sigh. "After what you've done, I'm afraid my tiny temple won't be able to protect you."

Xianle didn't say much in response to that. Over the years, she had indeed been hiding to evade the karmic gaze of the heavenly secrets.

But now, after assassinating a grand chancellor, she was bound to draw attention.

Which also meant she could no longer remain here.

Xianle took a deep breath and said, "Thank you for taking me in all these years, City God Lord. One day, I will surely repay this kindness."

The City God Lord paused. Hearing that she was actually leaving left him feeling reluctant to part.

Yet if she didn't leave, he would be the one facing disaster.

He truly had no other choice.

The City God Lord said, "I only hope you do not cause a greater disaster."